Edge of Time

Review by Rolf Semprebon Witch & Warlock reissued Dom's Edge of Time in 1991, but one could barely hear the music over the scratchy vinyl they dubbed it off of and the poorly engineered sound. Thankfully, the more recent Second Battle reissue gives this classic early-'70s Krautrock album the CD treatment it deserves, with crystal-clear sound and even a bunch of bonus tracks. Edge of Time combines cosmic folk, psychedelic freeform, and electro-acoustic avant-garde in a unique mix that is strange and surreal. With just four long tracks, the album is dark and brooding, at times even haunting, as the music wends from hypnotic psychedelic folk to bizarre soundscapes of drones and clankings. Though much of the vocals consist of wordless trills similar to the first Ash Ra Tempel record, a couple of tracks, "Silence" and the title cut, have spoken word in English that only adds to the bleak beauty of the sound. Most of the bonus pieces date a couple years later by the original group, and though not quite as effective, are similar to the album cuts, though three of them at slightly over a minute long apiece are way too brief. The last cut, "Let Me Explain" from 1998, is the Baksay brothers from Dom fooling around with more contemporary, electronic-based music.